Game and apparatus



J. H. GROSS GAME AND APPARATUS Filed Jan. 16, 1957 INVENTOR JOHN H.GROSS BY at,

ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 9, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 11 Claims.

The invention relates to a game of numbers, to a method of playing suchgame and to apparatus particularly designed for practicing the method.

The invention has for its primary object the providing of a variation inrolling ball games which employ numbered balls or spheres such as pooland billiards and which invention features both an element of skill inshooting a cue ball as in playing pool, and an element of chance as towhich combination of numbers may be separated from a conventionalpyramid arrangement of such numbered billiard balls as the result of askillful shot.

The invention further contemplates the utilization of the single numberon an ejected ball, or preferably the summation of two such numbers inthe event of the simultaneous ejection of two suchballs.

Referring to the apparatus aspect of the disclosure, an'object of theinvention is to provide a simplified form of container for billiardballs and like numbered spheres so designed and proportioned that thecontained spheres can be readily mixed to assume a change in relativearrangement by shaking the container, andfrom which container a pair ofthe numbered spheres may be readily rolled out of the container on theactuation thereof in the manner prescribed by the rules of the game.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be in partobvious from a consideration of the method features of the disclosureand. from an inspection of the accompanying drawing and in part will bemore fully set forth in the following particular description of onemethod of practicing the invention, and the invention also consists incertain new and novel modifications of the preferred method and otherfeatures of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter set forthand claimed.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view looking downupon a pool table equipped withapparatus for playing the games herein featured and showing thecontainer in plan and in position to be actuated;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in front elevation of the container shown inFig. 1, looking at the same from the left hand side of that figure andwith the closures in locked position;

Fig. '3 is a horizontal section through the container and taken on theline 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking downwardly as indicated by the arrows; and

Fig. 4 is a view partly in side elevation of the right hand side of thecontainer as shown in Fig.2 and with parts broken away on the line 4--4of Fig. 1 to show details of construction and also showing in dottedlines an elevated position of one of the closures.

In the drawing and referring first to Fig. 1 there is disclosed a flatsupport In and in the instant case shown to be the top of a pool tableor other surface on which pool balls roll easily. There is positioned onthe table a container II, acue ball I2 and an actuating cue I3.

The container II comprises a bottom I4, triangular shaped in plan,having an apex I5 and a base edge I6 forming the side opposite the apexl5. The ball receiving top surface I! of the bottom is inclined slightlydownwardly from the base edge I6 tothe apex I5 so that the spheres orballs B- hereinafter described will tend to roll down the inclinetowards the apex I5 after the balls have been shaken to mix the same, ashereinafter described. The upper portion of the container comprisesprimarily a one-piece shell I8 which includes a flat upstanding baseside I9 and two upstanding side walls and 2| rounding into each other toform slightly curved dome roof 22 considered transversely, that is, inplanes parallel to the base side I9 as shown in Fig. 2. Considered fromfront to rear, that is, perpen dicularly to the base side I9, the roof22 converges, from its maximum height, at the crotch 23 formed by thejuncture of the side walls 20 and 2] above the apex l5 as shown in Fig.4. The roof is provided at its high forward point with an upstandingfunnel 24 provided with throat 25 of sufficient diameter to permit theinsertion, one by one, of the balls B.

The base side I9 is provided adjacent its opposite edges with twoopenings 26 and 21 of a size to permit the free passage therethrough ofone of the balls but not of sufficient dimension to permit two of theballs to pass therethrough out of the container at the same time. Theopenings have their lower edge flush with the high edge of the bottom I4so that the ejected spheres when ejected from the container will drop a,short distance in falling on to the support ID as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 4. The openings 26 and 21 are provided respectively with dropclosures 28 and 29 normally held by virtue of their own weight or bytheir inertia in position closing their respective openings.

The closures 28 and 29 are secured to the wall l9 by hinges 30 locatedabove the respective closures so that each closure while normallyhanging vertically is capable of swinging outwardly when unlocked andthus form a drop door. The doors are each designed to be tem" porarilylocked in closed position by means of a hasp 3i hinged to the lower edgeof the closure and designed to be secured by locking means 32 movableinto inoperative or unlocked position by means of a spring pressed thumbpiece 33. These thumb pieces are preferably designed to face inwardlythat is, towards each other, as shown in Fig. 2, and thus disposed inposition to be conveniently moved outwardly relative to each other andinto unlocking position by the thumb of the two hands of the operatoras. he grasps the opposite sides 26 and 2| at the corners adjacent thebase side Hi. The crotch edge 23 is provided intermediate its heightwith an outwardly projecting horizontally disposed cylinder 34 providedwith a bore 35 extending axially and horizontally therethrough. Slidablymounted in the bore 35 is a bolt-like plunger 36, the inner end of whichis formed with a cue head 31 simulating the head of cues such as thehead of the cue I3. The outer end of the plunger 36 is threaded asindicated at 38 and is in threaded engagement with an external head 39preferably formed by mutilating a billiard ball to provide an internalbore 40 slidably mounted on the cylinder 34 to provide a horizontallyextending bearing engagement between the head 39 and the projectingcylinder 34. It is a feature of this disclosure that the outer exposedsurface of the head 39 provides a spherical contact face 4| andotherwise the structure is designed so that the plunger head willsimulate a billiard or pool hall for cooperative play with the free cueball 12. The bore 40 forms a spring chamber containing a coiled spring42 bearing at one end against the outer end of the cylinder 34 and atits other end against the head 39 tending to urge the plunger outwardly.

A long narrow box-like partition 43 is located in the container betweenthe openings 26 and 2! and projecting from the base side I9 a distanceat least equal to the diameter of one of the balls and disposed so as toprovide a pair of constricted passageways 44 and 45 leading from theinterior of the container to the openings 26 and 2?. The partition isprovided with a top 43 sloping downwardly from the base side l9 andunderlapping the throat 25 and thus disposed in position to receive theballs introduced into the throat and direct them oiT the top 46 and intothe interior of the container to join the balls already there.

Within the container are twelve billiard balls B each provided with asingle number and forming two sets of numbered balls, each set beingnumbered progressively from I to 6 inclusive. The bottom I4 is soproportioned relative to the twelve balls when in position engaging thetop surface ll of the bottom that they assume the pyramidal formillustrated in Fig. 3 with an apex ball marked 3 in this case centeredin axial alignment with the direction of thrust of the plunger. Thehalls when falling into position tend to arrange themselves in two linesin the form of a V with five balls in each line and with the apex ballcommon to both lines. The other three balls, as for instance thosemarked 6, 3 and I, in the illustrated arrangement, are located betweenthe two lines of balls in the crotch of the V formed thereby. Theinclined slope of the bottom I! tends to shift the balls as. a wholetowards the right of the showing in Figs. 3 and 4 and'thus away from thepartition 43 and from the base side I6 provided with the openings. Whileit is the intent to make the structure as small as possible and thusprovide a container which can be readily lifted from its support in theshaking of the balls incidental to the mixing operation herein featured,suificient clearance 41 is provided so as to ensure the requisitefreedom of movement between the several balls during the mixingoperation. With the idea of making the structure as light in Weight aspossible it is suggested that the shell be made of sheet aluminum andthe base made of wood.

In operation and assuming that the balls are, for instance, in theposition in the container as indicated in Fig. 3 and that the containeris centered at one end of the pool table as suggested in Fig. 1, theplayer strikes the cue ball I2 with one l3 and aims for the head 39either with a direct shot or with a bank shot in accordance with certainrules forming no part of the present disclosure. The objective insofaras this disclosure is concerned is to strike the spherical head 39 withsufficient force to overcome the reset spring 42 and cause the cue-likeend of the plunger to strike a percussion blow against the apex ball inthis case shown to be one of the numbered 3 balls. This will cause bothlines of balls 4, 2, I, at the upper side of Fig. 3 and balls numbered4, 6, 5, 2, at the lower side of this figure to move slightly from rightto left in the direction of the lines. Assuming that the closures areunlocked, the impulse transmitted along the two lines of balls willcause the end ball and which in the instant illustration both happen tobe numbered 4 to leave the balance of the balls in the line and moverapidly and forcefully out of the two openings. This outward movement ofthe end balls elevates the closures as they pass beneath the same asindicated in dotted lines at the left of Fig. 4. The two balls will thenroll out of the container and on to the billiard table where they can bequickly read and utilized as part of the complete game. While theremaining balls of the line such as the 2, 5, I, will not move very farfrom their initial position, and this is especially true in those caseswhere the balls must move up the incline formed by the bottom, anyhow,the next succeeding balls 2 and 6 will not be moving under any materialforce. However, even though this next succeeding ball of each line bemoving, it would not have sufficient force to elevate for the secondtime the dropped closure and in this way the dropped closure actsselectively to permit while restraining the freedom of escape of thefirst ball in each line, and in preventing the second ball from movingoutwardly it maintains all of the remaining balls in the container. Inthis way only two balls can be ejected from the container at oneactuation of the plunger and only then in the event that all twelveballs are within the container when the plunger is snapped.

After a play has been made the two ejected balls are replaced in thecontainer through the open top funnel and permitted to rejoin theircompanions remaining in the container. The fastening means at 33 aresnapped into closed position, the container is elevated from its supportand vigorously shaken in order to mix the balls indiscriminately so thatit will be a matter of chance as to what particular numbered balls willeventually occupy the most advanced position in each line and which inFig. 3 are occupied by the two balls numbered 4.

The container 7 with the mixed grouping of the balls is replaced on thetable, the closures are unlatched and the device is ready forarepetition of the ball ejecting operation previously described.

It is obviously within the scope of the disclosure to operate theplunger by direct manual operation or bychance instrumentalities or byskill controlled instrumentalities other than the one and cue ballaspect herein featured.

Iclaimf e "1; In a device of the class described,'the combination of asupport providing a flat pool-tablelike surface, a container ofsubstantially triangular form in plan having two openings in its baseside, each opening provided with a drop closure hingedly mounted aboveits respective opening, twelve billiard balls constituting two setsnumbered one to six, said balls located in a single plane in thecontainer with nine of the balls arranged in the form a V, one line ofthe balls being in alignment with one of the openings and the other linebeing in alignment with the other opening, a plunger mounted at theangle of the container opposite the base side and adapted at its innerend to contact with the ball forming the crotch of the V, the outer endof the plunger exteriorly of the container provided with a sphericalexposed contact face simulating a billiard ball, a reset spring actingon the plunger and tending to project the spherical face outwardly awayfrom the container, a free one ball on the support exteriorly of thecontainer and adapted to be moved forcefully, as by percussion froma cuein playing pool, into contact with the spherical face to move theplunger inwardly against the resistance of its reset spring and, thuscause the plunger to react along the two lines of balls to cause an endball of each line to move out of the container through the adjacentopening and against the resistance offered by the drop closure of suchopening.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a mixingcontainer for spheres, said container provided with a sloping bottom oftriangular form in plan and with an end wall and two side walls coactingto group the spheres in the form of a triangular with an apex formingsphere at the lowermost point of the bottom when the spheres fall on thebottom at the termination of a mixing operation, the end wall being atthe wide side of the pyramid and provided with two openings thereinadjacent the side walls and a plunger at the apex opposite the end wall,said plunger operable from the exterior of the container and in engagingthe sphere at the apex acting to eject from the container the twospheres which happen to be nearest the openings.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a containerhaving a bottom triangular in plan and sloping downwardly from one baseedge to an apex, an end wall and two upstanding side walls, the end wallopposite the apex provided with two openings adjacent the two sidewalls, drop closures for each of said openings hinged to said end wall,means for locking said closures at will, more than two numbered sphereson said bottom disposed in two lines with a sphere common to both linesat the apex and with the spheres aligned with the openings and apercussion plunger mounted in the container at the apex and adapted inengaging said common sphere to eject the two spheres at the oppositeends of the lines out of the container through the openings and againstthe resistance interposed by the inertia of the closures when hanging inunlocked position.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a containerhaving capacity to contain more than two billiard balls with sufficientclearance to permit the balls to be mixed by shaking the container withthe balls therein, the bottom of the container being of triangular formto cause the balls automatically to assume a triangle form when theyfall to the bottom, one of the upstanding walls of the containerprovided with two openings each of a size to permit only one billiardball to pass'therethrough ata time,and a plunger carried by thecontainer opposite the wall having the openings and adapted in strikingthe ball at the apex of the triangle to eject the two balls which happento be nearest the openings therethrough and thus out of the container.

5. A container for billiard balls having an interior of sufficientcapacity to permit the mixing of the balls when the container is shakenviolently, said container provided on one side thereof with a pair ofopenings, means for causing some of the contained balls to assume twolines of mutually contacting balls arranged in the form of a V, andmeans acting on the ball at the apex of the V to eject the two balls atthe opposite end of lines out of the container through the pair ofopenings.

6. A container for billiard balls having an interior of sufficientcapacity to permit the mixing of the balls when the container is shakenviolently, said container provided on one side thereof with a pair ofopenings, means for causing a certain number of the contained balls toassume two lines of mutually contacting balls arranged in the form of aV, said means including a bottom of triangular form sloping towards oneapex for causing the balls to roll towards said apex and to position oneof the balls at said apex, and means acting on the ball at the apex ofthe V to eject the two balls at the opposite end of lines out of thecontainer through the pair of openings.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a support, aball-mixing container for a group of numbered balls fixed to thesupport,- means acting on the balls for arranging them in line and incontacting relation, said container provided with an opening at one endof the line of balls for discharging the same on to the support, andejecting means slidably mounted in the container at the other end forengaging the adjacent ball of the line.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a ball-mixingcontainer for a group of numbered balls, means acting on the balls forarranging them in line and in contacting relation, said containerprovided with an opening at one end of the line of balls and a plungercarried by the container at the other end for engaging the adjacent ballof the line, and a bottom to the container inclined downwardly from theopening towards the ejecting means whereby the balls in rolling down theincline will contact with each other successively in line, with the ballat the lower end thus automatically located in position to be engaged bythe ejecting means.

9. A container for two sets of billiard balls and having capacity topermit the balls to be 'mixed when the container is bodily shaken, meansfor causing the mixed balls to arrange themselves in two lines, saidcontainer provided with two openings, one for each of said two lines ofballs and manually actuated means acting directly on that one of thecontained balls which happens to be 7 nearest thereto to move the sameto cause the balls forming the two lines to shift slightly towards theirrespective openings and thus act to eject from the container selectivelyonly the two balls which happen to be nearest the two openings.

10. A container for two sets of billiard balls and having capacity topermit the balls to be mixed when the container is bodily shaken, saidcontainer provided with two openings and means acting directly on thecontained balls to eject from the container only the two balls whichhappen to be nearest the two openings, and closures for the openings andconstituting gravity controlled means tending to defeat the ejectionfrom the container of any of the balls except such two balls.

11. In a game device, the combination of means forming an enclosure, aplurality of sets of simi-

